Visiting Barrow, Alaska — My Journey to the Northernmost Point in the U.S.

When it comes to crazy travel adventures, my day trip to the northernmost town in the U.S. has got to top the list as one of the coolest things I’ve done. While it’s certainly not traveling to the big city, the town of Barrow, Alaska, will welcome you with open arms. It’s an extremely fascinating place to see the way of life there, especially if you’re used to all of the comforts of home being within arm’s reach.

Barrow, also known by its Native American name of Utqiagvik, has a population of about 5,000 and surprisingly has many of the amenities you’d find in other, more urban towns, just downsized for such a remote place.

Let me be clear — Barrow is in the middle of absolute nowhere — but regular air service makes this town fairly accessible to the outside world. On a summer June afternoon, several traveling companions and I decided to take a day trip to Barrow from Anchorage to see life in the Arctic Circle.

Day-Trip Flights to Barrow

Barrow is an extremely remote place with limited hotels in its small community. For many, even with the chance to stay at a hotel, it isn’t worth staying overnight (though those who do seem to speak highly of it online). For most tourists, a day-trip in and out of Barrow is the preferred way of seeing the town.

Alaska Airlines is the only commercial airline operating into Barrow, and depending on the season and day, there are 2 flights into and out of Barrow a day. To do this as a day trip, you need to take the first flight, which leaves around 6 a.m. and gets into Barrow around 8:30 a.m. There’s a return flight at around 5 p.m., getting into Anchorage around 7:30 p.m. The trips are operated on either an Embraer 175 or a Boeing 737.

I did this trip as part of a larger journey that featured flying on the Alaska Airlines Milk Run.

While it’s an early start to your day, it’s the best option to maximize your time on the ground in Barrow. Now, there is one huge downside to doing a day trip. Barrow is known for fog that rolls in over the airport, and, on occasion, flights will not be able to land.

If this is the case, your inbound flight may not land. While you may be able to get into Barrow on the first flight of the day, your return flight later in the day may not actually arrive. On my trip to Barrow, this scenario happened the day after I was there.

If this happens, the return flight will be canceled and you’ll have to stay the night in Barrow (on your own dime) and take a flight the next day. Ordinarily, this may not be a big ask in a major city, but it’s not a simple thing in Barrow.

Rooms at one of the few hotels in the city can easily cost over $300 a night, and if you’re day-tripping in, you may not have the necessary supplies or a change of clothes to spend the night. Because of this, I highly recommend you bring a change of clothes and other essentials you might need if you have to spend the night.

You may wish to purchase your trip on a credit card that comes with extensive travel protections, like the Platinum Card^® from American Express. In case of a flight delay or cancellation, you’ll be able to have eligible expenses covered, making this ordinarily expensive overnight much cheaper.

Bottom Line:

If you’re visiting Barrow for the day, bring a change of clothes and enough supplies to last the night, just in case your return plane gets canceled.

When To Visit Barrow

There’s an easy answer to when to visit Barrow — summer. The high in July, the warmest month, sits around 47 degrees. It will be chilly, no doubt. During my visit in late June, the temperatures reached the 50s, which was pleasantly warm for this area. At times, I was too warm in my several layers, but I’d consider this not the norm for this area.

During the summer, there are nearly 24 hours of daylight, so no matter when you’re outside, you’ll likely find it bright and sunny. Even in the middle of the night, it will still be light out, so if you stay overnight, select a room with good blackout curtains.

If you’re brave enough to visit during the winter, the temperature hovers around 0 degrees. There are nearly 24 hours of darkness, the complete opposite of summer. It is not advisable to visit Barrow during the winter as a tourist.

There’s No Cell Service

One of the first things you’ll learn about Barrow when you land is that there is next to no cellular service. I have Verizon Wireless as my home carrier, and there was no signal the entire day I was there.

Another travel friend of mine had AT&T, which did have a faint signal at times, but by and large, this signal was also unusable, as it simply wasn’t strong enough to pull up even the simplest of websites.

In a town with no cell signal, you may also be surprised to learn that Wi-Fi is scarce. Even when visiting public places like a hotel or museum, there were no public Wi-Fi networks. The only place we could secure a Wi-Fi signal was in the local library, but this signal was barely usable and only suitable for quickly catching up on lost text messages.

Long story short, if you plan on visiting Barrow, you need to plan and know you’ll be disconnected during your stay. If you want anything on your phone during your trip, such as maps, you can download them for offline use.

Getting Around Barrow

When you step off the plane and into Barrow’s airport, you’ll enjoy the last little bit of communication with the outside world. There is a faint Wi-Fi signal in the airport, and while it’s painfully slow, you can still send a text message or pull up a webpage (though it may take a few minutes). If you need to download a map or any last bit of information, now is your chance.

When you head outside, you’ll notice the town immediately in front of you. You do not need a vehicle to explore Barrow; most tourists venture out on foot. There are almost no paved roads in the town, so bring a pair of shoes you don’t mind getting dirty as you walk on muddy roads.

You may see a few taxis out front, but you likely won’t need to get in one, especially since you have all day to walk around. You’ll log a few miles walking around, but as long as you have a good pair of shoes, you shouldn’t need a vehicle to help you.

Town Near the Airport

The town’s main hub is on the other side of the lagoon from the airport, about a 20-minute walk away. In the area closest to the airport, you’ll find the town’s main school, a small tourist information office, the main grocery store, the main municipal building, a police station, a fire station, and city hall.

Exiting the airport, you’ll make a left and follow the edge of the airport to the very end, where you’ll find one of the town’s only grocery stores. Inside, you’ll see firsthand the extreme cost of living in this remote village, with prices of basic goods being far higher than in the Lower 48 (or even Anchorage). A gallon of milk can easily cost $15. Because all goods need to be flown in, anything of weight will cost more to ship, which is passed along to the consumer.

Be sure to walk up and down the aisles to see all the various goods and prices, and compare these with the prices at your local grocery store back home.

After visiting the grocery store, I suggest heading to the Top of the World Hotel, one of only a handful of hotels in Barrow. It will take you about 30 minutes to walk from the grocery store to the hotel, but you’ll see some of the town’s few shops and restaurants along the way.

You can enter the hotel and see a very small museum in the lobby. One thing to note is that the hotel does not offer free Wi-Fi to people who aren’t staying there, so if you’re expecting to get reception here, you won’t find any. The hotel is the main jumping-off point for tours in the area, as it is owned by a tour company.

While there are tours of the region, and there’s the chance you can see a polar bear or other wildlife, you can also get around the town on your own. Tours are expensive, costing about $200 per person for the day.

No tour will take you to the most northern point, which is on a very isolated strip of land that only off-road vehicles can access (and even then, it’s extremely treacherous and not usually accessible). The van you take will take you to the edge of the town, where you can get a feel for the vastness of the area, but this can also be accomplished by renting a car or, if you’re up for it, on foot.

Niġġivikput is the hotel’s restaurant, and it features overpriced diner-type fare, including burgers, sandwiches, salads, and an all-day breakfast. While the food is fine, it’s nothing to write home about, and the prices reflect the complexities of transporting food to this remote area.

Most of the locals I talked to seemed to direct folks to Niġġivikput for a meal, even with a few other food choices in town, so it appears to be one of the nicest options you’ll find.

From the hotel, walk right outside to find the Utqiagvik Whale Bone Arch. This is one of the most photographed places in Barrow and where most people take their “northermost point” photos.

The whale bone arch symbolizes the region’s reliance on whaling, and it’s located directly next to a historic hut, one of the oldest buildings in Barrow. There’s not much in this area, but it’s worth a few photos, and you can get a good look at the Arctic Sea.

If you’re adventurous enough, you might be up for a polar bear plunge, where you strip down to a bathing suit and jump into the nearby water. I would not recommend doing this unless you’re staying at the hotel, since you’ll need towels and a place to return to dry off and warm up after jumping in.

You probably only want to do this during the summer months, when it’s at least mild and not super cold. During my visit, one of my friends dipped their feet into the water, but even that was a process of taking shoes off and contending with the dirt and sand.

Head over to the Inupiat Heritage Center from the whale bone arch area. It’s about a 15-minute walk away and is attached to the town’s library. The Heritage Center is the main museum of Barrow, and it costs about $20 to get in (a steep price for what’s inside), but it’s certainly worth seeing since you’re here.

There are several small exhibits on the local wildlife, a larger exhibit on whaling and fishing, a wall featuring a timeline of the city’s history and mayors, and then a separate building you can visit where elders make various handmade crafts for sale. It’s a relatively small museum, and it won’t take long to see it, but you should add it to your list since it gives you a general history of the area.

Next door is the Tuzzy Consortium Library. There’s not much here other than a small library with a selection of children’s and adult books, but there is free Wi-Fi, albeit with a very slow connection. If you need to connect to download a map, make a phone call, or communicate with the outside world, the library is your opportunity.

Among other activities in Barrow is a small tourist information hut directly across from the airport. Oddly enough, this hut does not open until late in the morning, so if you’re arriving by flight, you may need to wait a few hours for the gentleman who mans this tourist information post to unlock the door. While it’s a primitive building, you can buy a few souvenirs inside and chat with the shopkeeper to learn more about things to do in town.

When I stopped by, I could tell the man assigned to this post was incredibly proud of his town and heritage. While he expressed some frustration at the village’s remoteness, he was keen to explain all the perks of living here and what the locals do for fun. Depending on the time of year you visit, you may find various small festivals or fairs in town, so be sure to participate in those if you can. Most events occur during the summer when it’s warmer and there’s more daylight.

Final Thoughts

Barrow is very primitive, and I had a really enjoyable day exploring this community. As someone who lives in a very populated part of the country, I find it hard to think that Americans can live in such extremes, but it was very eye-opening to see the love and passion these community members have for this remote region of Alaska.

A trip to Barrow won’t be like visiting any other city. Communication will be hard, there won’t be the usual attractions, and it’s a real pain to get here, but if you take the time to visit this part of Alaska, you’ll enjoy every minute!